All of the Lions restricted free agents are signed

Check off another item from the Lions’ offseason to-do list.

Lions defensive tackle Sammie Hill became the last of the team’s restricted free agents to sign his tender on Thursday.

Linebacker DeAndre Levy and offensive tackle Corey Hilliard signed their tenders on Monday.

Hill had until Friday to sign the original-round tender (fourth round) worth $1.26 million. He’s been participating in phase one of the offseason training program, which began Monday, without a contract after signing a waiver.

Hill is an important reserve with starting experience along the Lions’ defensive front.

Levy was given a second-round tender worth $1.93 million and Hilliard signed an original-round tender (sixth round) worth $1.26 million.

Levy and Hilliard sign tenders; Hill signed waiver to workout

Linebacker DeAndre Levy and offensive tackle Corey Hilliard have signed their restricted free agent tenders and are both participating in the Lions offseason training program, which began today.

Defensive tackle Sammie Hill has yet to sign his original-round tender ($1.26 million), but he did sign a waiver in order to participate in the training program.

Hill can entertain offers from other teams until April 20. The Lions have until April 25 to match any offer or receiver a fourth-round pick in the draft from any team that signs him.

Levy’s been a three-year starter at both inside and outside linebacker for the Lions. He finished last season with 109 tackles. Levy was given a second-round tender worth $1.93 million.

Hilliard played in all 16 games and made one start at right tackle last year. He is a valuable backup who can play both tackle spots. Hilliard’s original-round tender (sixth round) was worth $1.26 million.

Lions tender DeAndre Levy, Corey Hilliard and Sammie Hill

The Lions have extended tender offers to restricted free agents DeAndre Levy, Corey Hilliard and Sammie Hill, according to a league source.

Levy has been given a second-round tender that will pay him $1.927 million in 2012. Levy was a third-round pick by the Lions in 2009.

Hilliard and Hill were given original-round tenders, a fourth rounder in Hill’s case and a sixth-round tender for Hilliard. Both tenders are worth $1.26 million in 2012.

Any team that wants to sign Levy, Hilliard or Hill must give up a similar pick in this year’s draft. If an interested team makes an offer, the Lions have a week to counter the offer or receiver the draft pick.

As previously reported, the Lions did not extend a tender offer to restricted free agent linebacker Ashlee Palmer. The team still hopes to sign Palmer in free agency, though.

Lions won’t extend tender offer to LB Ashlee Palmer

The Lions will not give a restricted free agent tender offer to reserve linebacker Ashlee Palmer, according to league sources.

Palmer played primarily on special teams last year and finished with eight tackles.

The move makes sense for the Lions, who will be up against the salary cap next season. They can’t afford to tender a reserve linebacker at more than $1 million.

That certainly doesn’t mean the Lions can’t come to a free agent deal with Palmer for him to remain a Lion. Palmer knows the system and was very good on special teams last season.

It’s not unlike the situation the Lions went through with running back Kevin Smith when they didn’t tender him a contract offer last offseason.

The Lions will have to decide on their other restricted free agents soon — linebacker DeAndre Levy, defensive tackle Sammie Hill and offensive tackle Corey Hilliard.

I expect the Lions to extend tender offers to all three of those players.

Levy, Pettigrew Questionable for Sunday’s game

Linebacker DeAndre Levy (knee) and tight end Brandon Pettigrew (shoulder) were listed as questionable for Sunday’s game on the team’s injury report.

Defensive end Cliff Avril (knee), safety Louis Delmas (hip) and wide receiver Calvin Johnson (ankle) were listed as probable.

Notable for the Vikings: defensive end Jared Allen (shoulder), wide receiver Percy Harvin (illness) and defensive tackle Kevin Williams (foot) are all probable.

Levy Gets in Practice Following the Bye

Second-year linebacker DeAndre Levy hasn’t stepped onto the field since Week 3 at Minnesota (9/26), watching from the sidelines with a groin injury.

Today, with a bonus practice following Detroit’s Bye Week, Levy got the opportunity to get back on the practice field.

Levy: “It’s refreshing. You just keep waiting and waiting, and it tests your patience a lot; getting out there you don’t want to lose a step, but I don’t think I lost too much as far as mentally and everything else, but I mean it feels good to be out there and just be doing something football related on the field.”

While the process has been frustrating for the middle linebacker, the experience of getting a “coaches view” of the defense has given him a different aspect of the game.

Levy: “It’s definitely a different perspective you have when you’re not on the field. You’re able to see the breakdowns and you see the things that we need to do as players to correct them. When you’re in the midst of it, sometimes you get lost in it, trying to focus on your job, but sitting back and seeing everything as a whole, you see what went wrong and why it went wrong.”

Another thing that Levy has had to watch while sidelined is the rotation at the middle linebacker spot.

The middle linebacker serves as the “quarterback of the defense” and not having that consistency at the position has been difficult, but also has had it’s advantages from a player standpoint.

Levy: “It has been (difficult). We haven’t had a consistent group, or a consistent guy in one position for an extended period of time. On the flip side of that, it gives guys the opportunity to learn different positions and understand the defense better as a whole, which I think coming in everybody didn’t do that. It was kind of like, ‘This is my job, so I know what to do,’ but now, being thrown into that position, you need to learn the ins and outs of each spot that you’re in.”

With three days left to practice leading up to the Washington game at home, Levy is looking forward to continuing his progression and getting back onto the field.

Levy: “I just get back into the vibe with everybody else on the defense, being in the huddle and what not. That will come along with more reps and the longer that I’m out there. Hopefully I can just keep progressing and finish out the season strong. It’s been incredibly frustrating, but when you get out there, you just forget about all that. You just want to get out there and have fun and enjoy your job.”

Avril Starting, Levy Active at Minnesota

Both defensive end Cliff Avril and middle linebacker DeAndre Levy are getting back into the starting lineup this week.

Levy has been out since suffering a groin injury the final week of the preseason while Avril sat out of last week’s game due to a knee injury suffered at Chicago.

Already ruled out on Friday, quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Nate Burleson and linebacker Zack Follett will not play today.

Starting at quarterback will be Shaun Hill, starting in place of Burleson will be Bryant Johnson and starting in place of Follett will be Ashlee Palmer. Check Detroitlions.com for a full list of starters.

Full list of inactives:

• Matthew Stafford
• Nate Burleson
• Kevin Smith
• Zack Follett
• Landon Johnson
• Manny Ramirez
• Jason Fox
• Willie Young

Strong Linebacker Corps Forcing Tough Decisions

After a Week 2 shoulder injury to linebacker Ernie Sims, the Detroit Lions started rookie DeAndre Levy Week 3 against the Redskins.

Now, with Sims practicing this week, Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham is facing a good problem to have: four quality linebackers that he would like to use this Sunday at Chicago.

Cunningham: “Ernie practiced well this morning. Yesterday, I was a little bit worried; I saw him do a couple of things that I didn’t like. But this morning he came out better and, as a matter of fact, I yelled at him pretty good on one play and we had a long talk about the play. Then he went back out and stepped up his practice.

“I think when you’re injured it takes about a day to really get back into it. But he did work hard this morning and looked pretty good.”

Last week against Washington, Levy got the start and stepped up to the challenge. He finished second on the team in tackles (3 solo, 3 assists) to veteran linebacker Larry Foote and was in on a number of key plays, including the last three plays of Detroit’s goal-line stand in the first quarter.

Cunningham: “DeAndre’s looked good ever since camp, probably. He had a couple of down weeks as we’ve been going, but he’s really played well and we’re looking forward to having him play this week.”

How is Cunningham going to balance this rotation?

“There’s concern with who we’re going to play where and how many plays they’re going to play – that’s the difficult part,” he said.

As the Lions get closer to this week’s game, Cunningham and the coaching staff will have a tough decision to make, but it is a good problem to have.

Cunningham: “I feel good that we have a pretty good group of linebackers and that doesn’t just mean the three starters and DeAndre. I think Jordon Dizon’s been playing well and (Darnell) Bing stepped up on special teams, which now makes me look at him a little more on defense.”

There are some options considering the versatility of Detroit’s linebacker corps. While Foote is a true middle, there are significant differences between the type of outside linebacker Sims, Levy and Julian Peterson are.

Considering Peterson is a lengthy player who can also act as a down linemen, Cunningham may be able to get all four of them on the field at the same time.

Cunningham: “We can do a few different things; we’ve practiced it at different spots this week. Hopefully all four of them will get a chance to play quite a bit, because we need them – they’re all pretty good players and we can use as many good ones on the field at the same time as we can get.”